Systems that require a high data rate connection between two devices typically utilize a wired communication link. However, a wired communication link limits the range of motion of a user in systems where mobility is also required (e.g., in virtual or augmented reality systems). One possible solution is to use a high data rate radio-frequency (RF) communication link. Although conventional high data rate RF communication links (e.g., IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11ad) may be suitable for some applications, virtual or augmented reality systems often require multi-gigabits-per-second (Gbps) links, to provide the best viewing experience. Another possible solution is to use a multi-Gbps free-space optical communication link. However, conventional free-space optical communication links use a combination of optics and small area photodiodes as receivers, which require a very high degree of pointing and tracking accuracy. Constraining the user or the design architecture to accommodate reception in such a system severely limits the system's flexibility.
Accordingly, there exists a need for devices capable of receiving high data rate communications without imposing onerous restrictions on the system or user.
While the flow and sequence diagrams presented herein show an organization designed to make them more comprehensible to a human reader, those skilled in the art will appreciate that actual data structures used to store this information may differ from what is shown in that they, for example, may be organized in a different manner, may contain more or less information than shown, may be compressed and/or encrypted, etc.
The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed embodiments. Further, the drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be expanded or reduced to help improve the understanding of the embodiments. Similarly, some components and/or operations may be separated into different blocks or combined into a single block for the purposes of discussion of some of the embodiments. Moreover, while the various embodiments are amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the embodiments are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosed embodiments as defined by the appended claims.